4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[pdcambs]

I came across this useful information in the 1967 Ministry of Ag. Advisory leaflet 306 entitled "Foul Brood"...

 

"Appliances which cannot be treated with blow lamp, such as the queen excluder, feeder, smoker and hive tool, should be scrubbed thoroughly with a strong brush dipped in a solution made in the following way:

 

Dissolve 1lb washing soda in 1gal hot water; add 1/2lb bleaching powder, stir and allow sediment to settle; pour off clear liquid into another vessel and apply with the brush. The solution must be freshly made and used while still hot. Care should be taken not to spill it on the clothes or to immerse the hands in it longer than necessary as it is rather caustic and has a powerful solvent action.

 

After the appliances have been scrubbed clean, they should be thoroughly washed in clean water before drying. As the solution acts rapidly on aluminum, appliances made of this metal should be rinsed immediately after scrubbing."

 

 

I have no idea what "bleaching powder" is?

 

Prior to scrubbing, I imagine as much wax and propolis should be removed from plastic hive parts, but without scratching the plastic.

 

This constitutes old and possibly outdated advice, but as it's the first thing I've seen that includes a recipe of what to sterilize non-wooden hive parts with, rather than just vague instructions to do so, I thought it worth posting here as a reference. Please don't use this method without it first being confirmed that this method is still recommended.

 

 

 

Peter

Cambridge UK

 

P.S. Personally, if/when I get a foulbrood, I will still burn complete hives; I know some beekeepers who have had a terrible problem getting free of brood disease even with burning everything under the supervision of the bee inspectorate. IMO a plastic hive, as far as foulbrood is concerned, is no more resistant/hygienic than a wooden one.

[Guest]

Isnt it interesting that what was done years ago probably guessing Health & Safety will feature somewhere here thesedays ..

 

Know nothing about Bees but do you think it worked. pd Cambs? Dont know what the foul brood rates were like then?

 

In hospitals over the past few years so many old(hazardous..but we didnt usually have an problems ie certain Bleach etc) have been banned, also litigation is one biggest fear. I remember domestics putting caustic soda down the drains every week as part of the cleaning schedule!!

 

 

But if I had bees and the above worked to stop any spread sounds like a possibiltiy??

 

v interesting indie

[pdcambs]

Isnt it interesting that what was done years ago probably guessing Health & Safety will feature somewhere here thesedays ..

 

Know nothing about Bees but do you think it worked. pd Cambs? Dont know what the foul brood rates were like then?

 

Foul brood fifty years ago was probably more widely spread than it is now, certainly it was a hundred years ago. Traditionally bee inspectors were treated with suspicion as general ignorance thought foul brood could be controlled or was simply not recognized. Visiting inspectors often had to destroy hives due to brood diseases and so were viewed with suspicion, often if problems were noticed they would therefore go unreported.

 

The trouble with sterilization, and even flaming with a blow torch, is that foul brood spores are VERY tough. Even if you manage to wash them out/off hive parts I'm not sure spores are killed. Flaming melts the wax and propolis polish the bees cover the inside of the hive with such that as it resolidifies it captures and encases the spores within the polish/wax where they are less able to cause a problem. This is also why you don't feed a hived swarm of unknown origin for three or four days, so that any foul brood spores that are in the honey held in the bees gut can be used up in wax making rather than find their way into any fresh stores where it can become a source of reinfection.

 

Spores are also very small and can easily 'hide' in the scratches in plastic. Wood when heated has some properties that allow it to seal ruptured cells caused by scratches, especially with the addition of a film of wax/propolis polish. It has yet to be shown how well a Bauhaus can be sterilized and so far I've not seen an adequate explanation of how to do it beyond the "go look at that leaflet that mentions it can be done" assertions. I think Omlet owes it's customers a debt of duty to liaise with the bee inspectorate to come up with just such a set of inclusive instructions; but then that's just my opinion.